Edinson Cavani - Wiki Article

Edinson Roberto Cavani Gómez (Spanish pronunciation: ; born 14 February 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Paris Saint-Germain and the Uruguayan national team. Cavani is well known for ability to score impressive goals and his tireless work-rate. In 2013, Cavani was listed 13th in The Guardian 's list of "The 100 best footballers in the world".

Cavani began his career playing for Danubio in Montevideo, where he played for two years, before moving to Italian side Palermo in 2007. He spent four seasons at the club, scoring 34 goals in 109 league appearance. In 2010, Cavani signed for Napoli, who signed him on an initial loan deal before buying him for a total fee €17 million. In the 2011–12 season, he won his first club honour, the Coppa Italia, in which he was top scorer with five goals. With Napoli, Cavani went on to score 33 goals each in his first two seasons, followed by 38 goals in his third season, where he also finished as Serie A top scorer with 29 league goals. On 16 July 2013, Cavani was transferred to Paris Saint-Germain for a reported €64.5 million, making him the most expensive signing in French football history.

Cavani is an Uruguayan international. He scored on his debut against Colombia on 6 February 2008, and has since then earned over 60 caps and scored 22 international goals. He has participated in four major international tournaments: the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the 2011 Copa América, the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He scored once at the 2010 World Cup, to help Uruguay to fourth place in the tournament, and in 2011 was part of the Uruguay squad that won a record 15th Copa América title.

Club career

Palermo

After his breakthrough at the 2007 South American Youth Championship, several big teams were reportedly interested in signing Cavani, including Juventus and Milan. On 29 January 2007, however, Palermo chairman Maurizio Zamparini announced the signing of the promising Uruguayan. The bid was officially confirmed on 31 January for €4.475 million.

Cavani made his debut on 11 March 2007 in a home league match against Fiorentina, coming on in the 55th minute with his team 0–1 down and scoring an impressive equaliser only 15 minutes later, a goal reminiscent of Marco van Basten's strike in the 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final. In his second season with the Rosanero, Cavani found himself fighting for a first team place with Fabrizio Miccoli and Amauri.

After Amauri's departure to Juventus in June 2008, Cavani cemented his place in the starting lineup, forming a striking partnership with Fabrizio Miccoli and scoring a total 14 goals in the 2008–09 season. He retained his place for the 2009–10 season under new boss Walter Zenga, and also under successor Delio Rossi, being instrumental in the team's successful run in Serie A which took Palermo to European qualification and potential qualification to the UEFA Champions League with two games remaining. In April 2010, he penned a new contract with Palermo valid to June 2014.

Napoli

2010–11

In July 2010, Cavani signed a reported five-year contract with Napoli. The transfer, however, was a loan of €5 million plus an option/obligation to buy outright for €12 million, which made the total fee €17 million. After debuting for Napoli as a substitute in the previous game, Cavani scored twice in his first start, as Napoli beat Elfsborg in the Europa League 2–0 and qualified for the main tournament. He then started his Napoli Serie A in spectacular fashion, scoring a controversial goal on Fiorentina after just seven minutes, with replays showing the ball hardly crossing the line. Cavani also scored on his home debut against Bari before adding a late winner against Sampdoria, meaning he had scored in his first four competitive matches with Napoli. On 26 September 2010, Cavani came on as a late replacement with 30 minutes left in a game against Cesena which Napoli were losing 1–0. After assisting the equalizing goal, he went on to score two more, with the final score 4–1. That meant Cavani shared the lead as top scorer in the league with Samuel Eto'o. Cavani's partnership with fellow forwards Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marek Hamšík led the Italian sporting media to dub them "The Three Tenors", after the famous singing group of the same name. On 15 December 2010, Cavani netted a 92nd minute goal against Steaua Bucureşti to help his team to a 1–0 win and progress beyond the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. In the first match, which was held on Romanian soil, he had scored an equalizing goal in the 97th minute. On 9 January 2011, Cavani scored a hat-trick during a 3–0 win over Juventus, the third goal coming by way of a scorpion kick. On 30 January, Cavani scored another hat-trick, this time in a 4–0 win over Sampdoria. Cavani continued his fine form scoring a brace against Roma, with Napoli winning 2–0. On 20 March, Cavani scored another brace against Cagliari in a 2–1 win. This win kept them within three points of leaders Milan with eight games left. On 3 April, Cavani scored yet another hat-trick in a 4–3 comeback win over Lazio, having been 2–0 and 3–2 down during the game. He also became the highest league goalscorer in a single season in Napoli's history, netting 25 goals in Serie A. On 8 May, in an away 2–1 loss against Lecce he received a red card for having two booked offenses. He sarcastically applauded the referee after the decision and was handed a two-match ban for the action. As Napoli only had two more games of the season, it meant that his season was over and that he wouldn't be able to regain his top position in the Serie A scoring charts, as Antonio Di Natale had surpassed him with 26 goals.

Cavani signed a new five-year contract on 19 May, keeping him at Napoli until 2016.

2011–12

On 14 September, Cavani scored the opener in Napoli's first game of their Champions League campaign, a 1–1 away draw at Manchester City. Four days later, on 18 September, he scored a hat-trick against Milan in Napoli's 3–1 home win. On 22 November, Cavani scored both goals in the match winning brace 2–1 at home against Manchester City in the Champions League, leaving Napoli in pole position to follow Bayern Munich into the knockout stage. On 26 November, Cavani scored a 94th minute equaliser against Atalanta after Napoli went a goal down in the 64th minute through on-loan Napoli striker Germán Denis. On 21 December, Cavani netted a brace in Napoli's 6–1 thrashing of Genoa, helping the Azzurri finish 2011 strong and end the first half of the season in sixth place.

On 17 February 2012, Cavani scored two goals against Fiorentina, helping Napoli go in fifth place ahead of Internazionale. On 21 February, Cavani scored the second goal against Chelsea in the Champions League round of 16 first leg in Naples. He also provided the assists for both of Ezequiel Lavezzi's goals that game. Napoli subsequently went on to win this game 3–1. Following Napoli's exit from the Champions League at the hands of Chelsea, Cavani scored two goals against Udinese in the last ten minutes to earn a much-needed draw to keep Napoli in the hunt for the last Champions League qualifying spot. A few days later, he converted a fantastic counter-attack against Siena to book Napoli a place in the Coppa Italia Final. On 21 April, he celebrated his 200th career league appearance by scoring in a 2–0 win against Novara. Cavani finished the league season with 23 goals, tied for third on the goal scoring charts with Udinese and Italy international striker Antonio Di Natale. On 20 May, he scored a penalty against Juventus in the 2012 Coppa Italia Final, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, which Napoli eventually won 2–0, Cavani finished the tournament as the top goalscorer with five goals.

2012–13

Cavani's first goal of the Serie A season came on 26 August, netting the final goal of Napoli's 3–0 defeat of former club Palermo. A month later, on 26 September, Cavani scored a mesmerizing hat-trick against Lazio to maintain Napoli's undefeated start to the Serie A season in a 3–0 win.

On 8 November, Cavani scored all four goals, including a half volley from outside the box and a tremendous free kick, as Napoli came back from 2–1 down to defeat Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 4–2 in the group stage of the Europa League. Cavani scored a late penalty in the 94th minute to secure a 2–1 victory over AIK Solna on 22 November, sending Napoli through to the next round of the Europa League. On 6 January 2013, Cavani netted a perfect hat-trick as Napoli thumped Roma 4–1, gaining ground in the race for the league title as champions Juventus fell to a shock win. Cavani finished the season as leading Serie A goalscorer, with 29 goals, six ahead of Udinese striker Antonio Di Natale in 2nd.

Towards the end of the season, reports emerged that Cavani would leave Napoli, with Chelsea, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid all believed to be interested. However, on 27 May 2013, he told that he was not thinking of moving, saying: "Real Madrid, Chelsea and (Manchester) City are interested in me? I just think about Napoli.". Though he continued to say: "If an important offer were to come in, I will talk with president (Aurelio) De Laurentiis." He paid tribute to his time in Italy saying: "I'm fine in Italy, I have grown as a man there and as a player with the Serie A experience." Cavani was asked about the interest of Chelsea and Manchester City in him, he said: "I don't know if they made an offer for me, I just know that to be coached by someone like (Man City manager) Manuel Pellegrini or (Chelsea manager) Jose Mourinho would always be a pleasure. On 23 June 2013, Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentis revealed that Cavani's reported £53 million "buyout clause expires" on 10 August 2013, although he went on to say that he doesn't "think Cavani will leave on August 10th" as he felt Cavani "won't make a joke of" him.

Paris Saint-Germain

On 16 July 2013, Cavani joined French champions Paris Saint-Germain on a five-year contract, for a fee believed to be around €64.5 million, making it the sixth largest transfer in history. The reported sum made Cavani the record signing in French football, breaking Radamel Falcao's €60 million move to AS Monaco earlier in the summer, and saw him link up with former Napoli teammate Ezequiel Lavezzi in Paris.

Cavani debuted for PSG on 9 August 2013, coming on as 72nd minute substitute in a league match against Montpellier. He started the following game on 18 August and scored his first goal for the club, a late equalizer against AC Ajaccio.

He scored his first Champions League goal for the club in their season opener against Olympiacos on 17 September. He ended the group stage with four goals from five matches as PSG qualified with a 100% win record.

On 22 January 2014, Cavani scored his 20th goal of the season in PSG's 2–1 Coupe de France defeat at home to Montpellier. On 2 March, after missing a month of the season with a thigh injury, Cavani scored on his return to the team in a 2–0 win over Le Classique rivals Olympique de Marseille at the Parc des Princes.

On 19 April 2014, he scored both goals for PSG as they beat Olympique Lyonnais 2–1 in the 2014 Coupe de la Ligue Final. He finished his first season with 25 goals in 43 games across all competitions, including 16 in 30 league games.

International career

In January 2007, Cavani was selected to join the Uruguay under-20s team to play in the 2007 South American Youth Championship in Paraguay. Cavani finished the tournament as top scorer with seven goals in nine games, helping Uruguay to finish in third place, earning them a place in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

On 6 February 2008, Cavani made his first senior appearance for the Uruguay national team, scoring in a 2–2 draw with Colombia. He scored from his own area on the counterattack from a corner and was praised by André Villas-Boas as "... a player with an immense capacity for the technical ability of scoring goals of tremendous skill and magnificent technique". On 10 July 2010, he scored against Germany in the third place match in the 2010 FIFA World Cup to make the score 1–1; Germany went on to win 3–2. On 8 October 2010, he scored his first international hat-trick in a friendly match against Indonesia.

Cavani was included in the Uruguayan squad at the 2011 Copa América in Argentina. He started the first two group games, but a knee injury in the second game against Chile ruled him out until the final. In the final, he replaced Álvaro Pereira after 63 minutes as Uruguay won a record 15th title by beating Paraguay 3–0.

At the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, Cavani equalised in the semi-final against the hosts Brazil, who eventually won 2–1. In the match for third place, he equalised twice against Italy, taking the game to penalties. Although Cavani scored his spot kick, Uruguay lost.

On 13 November 2013 Cavani scored the last goal in Uruguay's 5–0 away win over Jordan in a play-off for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In their first group game of the finals, against Costa Rica in Fortaleza, Cavani opened the scoring with a penalty after Diego Lugano had been pulled down. Uruguay eventually lost 3–1.

Personal life

Cavani was born in Salto, Uruguay's second largest city, on 14 February 1987, to Berta Gómez and Luis Cavani. His elder brother is striker Walter Guglielmone and his younger brother, Christian, is also a footballer. Cavani was married to Maria Soledad Cabris with whom he has two sons, Bautista (born 22 March 2011) and Lucas (born 8 March 2013) He is a devout Evangelical Christian. As a child, Cavani idolised Argentine striker Gabriel Batistuta. In 2014 Cavani announced that he and his wife are to get a divorce, following a split between the two the year before.